Customer Reviews

Hey Ho Let's Go: The Ramones

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Probably the best book on the Ramones to date. Everett True has done his home work, and it's makes for an exciting read for Ramones fans and beyond. Ensuring the information was fresh, the author had interviewed CJ, Tommy, and Markey (among others in the "Ramones family") exclusivliy for this publication. Also to his advantage he had been in jornalism since the 70's and had conducted several interviews with other members (except Richie). You're going to read some negitive criticism about the author being too subjective, however I think he backs up his opinions with strong reasoning adn examples. And his critiques are never far off.

I just finished reading this book, and have gone from being a casual Ramones fan to an intense fan and great admirer of the band. Everett True did an awesome job showing how The Ramones functioned as individuals and as a group.

What fascinated me is how the group stayed together for over twenty years, functioning as a band despite intense differences. Each member seemed to have a different vision, temperment and political stance, but they remained professional enough to keep working hard and cranking out great music.

True shows liberal Joey, Johnny the ultra-conservative; Dee Dee and Joey the artists, Johnny the workhorse who at times seemed like the "disciplinary glue" that kept the band well-marketed and organized. We see Tommy, who intrigued me the most as he tired of being an active member early on, but stayed involved with the band's production throughout the years. You see the out-of-control sides of Marky and Dee Dee, and the different recovery trips they sought. Band members often fought and held grudges, but rarely did it effect their professional work. Despite a cult following without huge record sales, these guys kept working hard.

True also put good effort into showing us the unsung members like CJ and Ritchie, and he shows how various crew members and artists worked as a family.

The book's only flaw is a biggie. True frequently cites what the band's best work is as if his personal likes are the final word. This does not happen once or twice, but throughout the book. Annoying! HOWEVER--- to his credit, he did print viewpoints that conflicted with his own, and he did so without discounting each person's word. I honestly can overlook Everett True's subjective flaw, because the work he put into this book is incredible. You can tell that he was a huge Ramones fan from day one, yet was focused enough to paint both their glory and their shortcomings.

Judging from other interviews I read with Johnny Ramone, I get the feeling that Everett True painted Johnny as more of a "hardnose bust-yer-chops" type than he actually is. Still, he did show Johnny's near military disclipline may be part of what kept the Ramones professional and reliable.

If you've never even heard of the Ramones, I recommend this book. You will read a fascinating account of a rock band that, conflicting individual dynamics, became a cohesive and legendary rock group.

Well written, researched & executed Biography of one of the Greatest Bands of Punk or Rock or Whatever. The story is a little sad, but I now understand even more the work ethic and obstacles that this band dealt with. We know the Great songs, great albums, great Movie, but we get some insight into this not so D.U.M.B. Little band from Queens NY! I still wake up at Night wondering why they were not The Biggest Band in the world! Joey is Put up as an almost mythical Romantic Hero Figure, while Johnny is really villified. Dee Dee is treated as a sort of Retarded Genius. Tommy, Marky, CJ, and Richie are touched upon nicely. 3 out of 5 for the imbalance of viewpoints But overall not to be missed.

I would like to second the review written by davidkam. This book is worth reading as it takes you through the entire history of the Ramones, up to Dee Dee's death. The book also sheds a greater degree of light on the band's dynamics and conflicts than what "Ramones: An American Band," does. There are a couple of major flaws with this book. Firstly, as said by davidkam, much of this book is the writers personal opinion about how each album sounds and what songs are good. Secondly, I often got the sense that he primarily researched the material for his book through the net. Consequently, there are some holes in his continuity. I really wish he would have got off his ... and tracked down Ritchie Ramone, and gone through as many hoops as possible to speak to Johnny. A great deal of the perspective in this book comes from Arturo Vega and some others closer to Joey than any other band member. In the end, it's an interesting read that any serious Ramones fan would probably find worth the time.

The book is informative. Has lots of good info and interviews, but also many factual errors. These errors are usually insignificant; I suspect the errors are probably because the author is not American and misses a lot of cultural references.

My biggest complaint is the book is just too much of the author's opinion. What was wrong with this song mix, etc. I have my own favorites, and don't really care for the author's detailed critiques.

"Hey Ho, Let's Go" is one of the best books I've read on the Ramones. It is up-to-date with the death of Johnny Ramone, and offers insight near the end on Joey Ramone's solo.

The book is like any other book-takes you from the beginnings of the Ramones to the regretful end. The book let's us see who wrote what on the first three albums (though I knew Dee Dee could not have written "I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend"). And it lets you see the hardships the band experienced until the bitter end, and after: The most interesting being the short few paragraphs on the induction to the R & R Hall Of Fame.

The proplem with the book is True: Often he offers insight to each album and outsiders coated heavily with his opinion, something that I wish people didn't do when writing about like the Ramones and Zeppelin. And it's not just on one or two albums or appear once or twice; True's opinions are everywhere. The book is extremely biased with True and that didn't make me very happy.

Excepts for True's mistake, the book is excellent and has a complete discography for the completist in most of us. Gabba Gabba Good-bye.

"All I ever wanted was to see smiles on the kids' faces" - Marky Ramone

In 2004, life without the Ramones and, in particular, Joey and Dee Dee, remains a novel concept. After the playing the last of some 2,200 (very) odd gigs in 1996, the band hung up their leather jackets, t-shirts, torn jeans and tennis shoes and rode off into the sunset to the strains of Ennio Morricone's "The Good, The Bad & The Ugly" theme. Anyone with a pulse is cognizant of "da bruddahs" rightful coronation as rawk royalty, although most of the accolades didn't start arriving until they went away.

Everett True postulates they functioned as much like a gang as they did a band, but a more accurate analogy might be La Cosa Nostra, with Johnny as capo di tutti capi and the rest as misfit goombahs. Until the end, it appeared the Ramones' creed was "in for life" and to this day, there appears to be some sort of omerta regarding Richie, who came up to the bigs for a cup of coffee when Marky was too drunk to sit upright on his drum stool.

True, himself a huge fan, paints a picture, warts and all, of four maladjusted kids from Forest Hills who had a musical vision that was rammed home with all the subtlety of a trouser cough on a crowded elevator (thanks, Andrew!), succeeding as purveyors of pure white noise in spite of themselves. Embittered somewhere along the way about the brass ring that seemed to elude them in the form of hit records and credit for if not creating punk rock, then at least kickstarting it, the Ramones turned to infighting, drugs, booze and tinkering with their sonic fabric.

The rift between Johnny and Joey is as much attributed to a struggle for control of their musical direction as it is to Johnny's stealing Joey's girlfriend and then marrying her. Is it any wonder long-suffering tour manager Monte Melnick's job is likened to that of a special-ed teacher chaperoning four retards on a 20-year field trip? Surprisingly, for all of the legend surrounding Dee Dee's heroin addiction and the lengths he allegedly went to to cop, it's given short shrift by True, although he doesn't sugarcoat Marky's liquor-soaked tours of duty. As I read True's account of Joey's passing while laying in a hospital bed surrounded by family and friends, I cried like a baby while riding a bus home from work surrounded by total strangers.

As punk marches into the 21st century, the Ramones have been rightfully iconized as the ultimate anti-heroes and the most influential band this side of The Beatles - no, make that the most influential band ever - architects of a unique universe of bad taste, volume, melody, and momentum. Despite that dubious achievement, there is a noticeable dearth in print about them, but True's book takes to places none of the others do, whether you like it or not.

Everett True was one of the better writers for the great English music weekly Melody Maker, so you would expect great things from this book. And it's long, so you think: finally, someone takes the Ramones seriously enough to write a good, in-depth book about them! Unfortunately, True takes the Ramones SO seriously that this book can be a bit of a slog. It never quite gets airborne as a narrative history of this very exciting and very influential band. The ponderous detail doesn't feed the momentum of the story as it should, and the author's frequently expressed personal opinions/Ramones moments and obvious Joey-worship are distracting and tend to lessen the book's authority. And the manuscript could've used a good NYC proofreader! There are some really glaring, silly errors.

True interviews many people who were close to the band or to certain members, but who are not all over the written record in other places, and this is very good. For the attentive reader, there are lots of great tidbits to be gleaned from these accounts (who knew Johnny Ramone shopped at the late great gourmet store Balducci?). But there is something about the material's organization that isn't as compelling as it should be -- like all the details are not quite adding up to a cohesive statement. Then when you *want* detail -- like source crediting of quoted material, notes at the back for every chapter, or even just an index -- nothing. The overall chronology is also spotty and selective, and a lot of things are just left out completely -- the band's Uncle Floyd show appearances, for instance, merit not even a mention.

OK, so where's *my* Ramones book? Having said all this, this is still a great and valuable book on the Ramones, and True is to be commended for doing it. It is DEFINITELY worth buying. It's not as good a read as Monte's book, but more informative, and until Legs McNeil comes out with a Ramones book -- which would be both informative AND a great read -- this one will at least keep you busy.

I've been a Ramones fan for a while now, and I've read a few books highlighting their story before. I've seen "End Of The Century" and I've read "Please Kill Me" and Joey's brother's memior, "I Slept With Joey Ramone." This book, by far, surpasses all of those in terms of actually giving you tons and tons of information about the Ramones story.

You can tell the author is a huge fan, given the time spent detailing the history. At 300+ pages, the book is fairly exhaustive, but I never found it exhausting. You hear about each members background, the band formation, the albums, the B-sides, what was going on during the time of each release, the tours, the in-fighting, all the way to the end where Joey's death is discussed. He even covers Dee Dee's solo stuff. You find some good pictures, tons of interviews from those involved, just lots and lots and LOTS of info! Its really excellent that way.

And while some have griped about the author being overly opinionated, I don't really think he was going too far in his comments about the albums and other areas. He tells you what he likes and doesn't like, and why he feels that way, but I thought he was also very balanced in including snippets from music reviewers, both positive and negative, for just about every release as well.

I was also pleased with how the author balances his fandom with a certain sense of objectivity. The Ramones are clearly his favorite band, but he doesn't cover their flaws, he talks about Dee Dee's drug use, Joey and Marky's drinking, and how all that stuff affected their creative output and performances. So it strikes a nice balance, its not a dirt-flinging tell all, nor is it a gushing, they-can-do-no-wrong love letter. Its a guy who loves the Ramones, doing his best to tell you their story as honestly as he can.

I give this book my highest reccommendation. If you're a fan, you'll enjoy it. And even if you're not, you'll still learn a lot about a great American rock band.

I enjoyed the book, learned some things I didn't know about the group previously. One EXTREMELY annoying item for me was the author's neverending references to the group as "da bruddas". Man, once was enough but it's used over and over for no good reason. Anyway, the best one so far in spite of this.